ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

These songs were originally released on the Moon Ska Japan "Christma-ska" compilation album, along with other bands such as The Bluebeats, The Allstonians, Buford O'Sullivan, Skinnerbox and New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble. We have assembled The Toasters tracks for release into the digital realm. It has been almost 13 years since this album came out. The tracks have never been available since then. The album showcases a unique time for The Toasters, between Hard Band For Dead and Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down. It shows the band in their more "jazzy" stage of evolution. They give their spin on some traditional holiday tunes but also bring three of their own original songs into the mix. 'Happy Christmas', 'Rudy Christmas A Jail' (which is a rework of the rare track 'Davina') and 'Christmas Time Again'. What I like about this album is that is showcases a lot of other members in the band singing and working the harmonies. Jack Ruby Jr. has a great voice on this album, and we even have Sledge and Johnnathan McCain taking leads on some tracks as well. There are a lot of Christmas albums out there, and honestly, most are horrible! But this album is truly a very unique and quality album, even if it wasn't holiday based. The musicianship and production quality is really top notch. So if you are trying to decide which holiday album to download this year, go the Jamaican route and skank it up in this winter wonderland!

Now, some may be asking "What about the other band's songs?" Those are up to those bands to release on their own, as they own the copyright to them, not us. You can find the New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble song on their "Best Of" cd released by Megalith Records in Europe (import copies are available through the Megalith Records website). As far as the other tunes, maybe the bands will tack them on as bonus tracks someday!